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THE BIOCENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WÜRZBURG

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A tethered flying monarch butterfly orients in the flight simulator with respect to a green light spot. While flying, microelectrodes record the butterflies’ brain activity.

Monarch butterflies employ a sun compass on their long-distance migration. Surprisingly, a new study shows that the compass is only established during flight.

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Intensively farmed experimental plot in a warm climate with a Malaise trap (in the background) for recording flying insects and a wild bee nesting trap (in the foreground) for recording plant-pollinator-parasite networks. The pieces of wood at the base of the nesting aid are used to determine the decomposition rate of wood.

The question of the causes of species extinction confronts science with complex tasks. Dr Sarah Redlich from the Biocentre on the challenge of creating a study design.

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The Wuerzburg Highly Cited Researchers 2021 (clockwise from top left): Hermann Einsele, Rainer Hedrich, Laurens Molenkamp, José Pedro Friedmann Angeli, Jörg Vogel.

Their work is most frequently cited in publications of other scientists. Four researchers from the University are therefore included in the Highly Cited Researchers 2021 List.

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Malaise traps are highly suitable for collecting a variety of insect species in different habitats.

Urbanisation appears to be another key factor for insect decline. This is shown by a study in which the impact of climate and land use on insects was disentangled for the first time.

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Structure of the poxvirus-polymerase in an early stage of transcription. Bound DNA is labelled in blue.

Poxviruses have found a unique way of translating their genes into proteins in the infected organism. A team of researchers from Würzburg shows for the first time how the molecular machinery involved works at an atomic level.

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Diversity matters

09/23/2021
Ecosystem with alpine vegetation at Mount Kilimanjaro.

The higher the biological diversity in an ecosystem, the better the important processes there function. A heterogeneous environment promotes this effect, while intensive land use weakens it, as a new study shows.

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Three important pollinators in Europe (from left): hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum), the yellow loosestrife bee (Macropis europaea) and the common blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus).

The newly funded EU Horizon 2020 project Safeguard will address the decline of wild pollinators, its effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and options to restore pollinator diversity.

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Deadwood in the beech forest near the ecological station of the University of Würzburg. Fungi have set about decomposing the logs.

The time deadwood in forests needs to decompose depends on climate as well as on fungi and insects. Researchers have now quantified the contribution of deadwood to the global carbon cycle.

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Researcher Katalin Karikó receives a prestigious award from Würzburg.

With her research, biochemist Katalin Karikó laid the foundation for the development of RNA vaccines against the coronavirus. Now she is being honoured for this by the Würzburg Societas Physico-Medica.

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A peptide hormone not only provides energy, but also helps to balance activity and rest in the fruit fly Drosophila.

In the fruit fly Drosophila, a hormone helps to balance rest and activity. This is shown by a new study of a research team led by the University of Würzburg. Might humans have a hormone with comparable function?

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A nocturnal dung beetle climbing atop its dung ball to survey the stars before starting to roll.

Light pollution makes it difficult for dung beetles to find their way. This is probably also true for other nocturnal insects and birds, as researchers suspect.

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The genetic material of the thale cress comprises around 125 million base pairs. A team from the University of Würzburg has now taken a closer look at three million of them.

The characteristics of plants of the same species can have different genetic causes depending on their origin. This is shown by a recent study at the University of Würzburg.

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Remote control for stomatal movement. Green light can activate the GtACR1 channel in guard cells that surround an open pore (left). Active GtACR1 channels release chloride ions, which automatically also causes the efflux of potassium ions and the release of water (middle). Because of slackening of the guard cells the stomatal pores in the leaf surface close (right).

Plant researchers have a potent new tool at disposal: In the journal Science Advances, a research team from Würzburg shows how to close the stomata of leaves using light pulses.

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When plants are flooded for a long time, they suffer damage. Würzburg researchers are investigating what happens in plant cells during flooding.

If plants are flooded, they lack oxygen and their cells over-acidify. A sensor protein detects this and triggers a stress response. Researchers have now presented details about this topic in the journal Current Biology.

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A buff-tailed bumblebee and a 3D model of the bumblebee brain, based on micro-CT. The blue regions symbolise the primary olfactory centres. The yellow/orange regions process visual information from the compound eyes, the turquoise coloured visual information from the ocelli. Shown in red/orange are the mushroom bodies important for learning. The insects' inner compass, the central complex, is green.

A three-dimensional atlas of the bumblebee brain is now available. It will allow to even better research how nerve cells are interconnected and how they process information.

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